I've heard from American car buyers they wait at least a month before waxing, to let the paint "breathe", cure, whatever. Of course, their cars get from the factory to the dealer in a couple of days, whereas the M3 takes about a month. So is my car going to be ready to wax when it shows up next week, or do I let it "breathe" for a few until I break out the Zymol?

BTW: I use that blue perfumy Zymol. What is the preference around the forum?

You don't really have to wait since the car takes a while to ship from Germany.
Did you get that light blue "Zymol" from Target; the one in a bottle? That' actually Turtle wax and not the best stuff. It won't hurt your car but there is much better.

Just depends on what you want from your wax. Synthetic stuff like Zaino and Klasse last a long time and many people SWEAR by Zaino. It's a bit more time consuming to put on because of all the layers you're suppose to put on but it lookd better with each layer.
The Carnuba based stuff doesn't last as long (3 months max) but many people like the way it shines and some feel it helps moiturize the paint and keep it healthy (not sure I buy into that).
Check out the detail section here. You won't need to clay bar the car since it's new and shouldn't need to polish it either unless it gets some water spots during transit or from the dealer. Some good Carnuba stuff is the expensive Zymol (doesn't last more than a month), P21s, Griot's Garage. Good polish is 3M Imperial Hand Glaze or Griots.
If you want to use the synthetic stuff, tell the dealer not to wax it since it doesn't mix well with carnuba stuff for unclear reasons. Get some microfiber towels from Walmart to take the wax off and buff with some terri towels if you feel the need.
Here are some helpful links. Good luck and have fun.

Zaino (www.zainobros.com)
CarCarOnline (www.carcareonline.com)
Griots Garage (www.griotsgarage.com)

i heard it's best to do a clay bar on your car when you first recieve it... it picks up alot of contaminents from being shipped...

i could be wrong tho.

claybar
prep
polish
double wax

:confused:

Clay? You may wish to rethink that!
Taken from http://www.carcareonline.com/

"CLAY: Literally a plasticene/abrasive mixture used to smooth new paint and remove over spray. This type of product must be used with lots of lubricant. The technique of using a clay is a learned skill. Use too little lubricant, or get contaminants in the clay, and you have moved into scratch city. This is one product that is the fast lane to trouble if not used with extreme care. I do not recommend this product as a general paint cleaner. You literally grind off a layer of paint. Should be used as was intended, to remove paint over spray."

I'm not saying that I believe everything I read on the net, but a lot of this guy's observations I agree with. Think I'll listen to him 'bout the clay.

Man, that site is an education.

Up until now, I've been using ArmorAll Carwash Concentrate for the wash, followed by Mother's Clay (when necessary - I live around three powerplants and the Tampa International Airport to provide me with gratuitous amounts of fallout), and then the Zymol Blue, which I picked up at Target 4 years ago after hearing everyone rave about Zymol.
I clean my wheels with Meguiar's Gold Class, followed by a coat or two of Meguiar's Endurance. I always do the wheels first, even before washing the car. That way I avoid leaving solvent overspray on the paint.

The CCO guy doesn't even mention some of my most used products, like Mother's Back to Black (which really works well) for the body mouldings, or Eagle One carnuba. In fact, Mothers and Eagle One are conspicuously absent from his site.

Definitely an education. I always thought I was just not easily satisfied with car car products, but now I realize I may have been using the wrong stuff. I guess a trip to the local Pep Boys (astounding selection of goodies there) is in order.

I use mostly Meguirs stuff when I need something quick... I want to upgrade to using www.zainobros.com stuff, but their ordering process is horrible.

However, I heard the www.zainosbros.com stuff works miracles and makes meguires look like play-doo-doo

Kev, just feel your paint when you get the car. My friend just clayed and Zaino'd ALL day and he didn't get much off his car with the Clay. If you're doing Zaino, then it's best to tell the dealer NOT to wax or Armoral it. Also, check to see if there is a Zaino dealer in your area, or maybe become a dealer. People do it out of their house all the time. It would be hard to believe there isn't a dealer in Ft Lauderdale. I think Zaino is a little overblown. It's good and what I have on my car but it's not WAY better than the Mother's wax I had on before. I think it's better for dark cars. I just like it lasts a long time.

I read that on CarCareOnline about the clay bar too but still used it a couple times. Just make sure you use a lot of lubricant

This site is really helpful: Wax Comparison (http://www.deckowski.com/wax%20off/durability.htm)

I've always operated under the assumption that you should wait 2-3 mos from the manufacture date for a waxing, which should be located on the sticker inside the driver's door jam....

No wait time is necessary. Your car is put into an oven at the factory. The paint is cured instantly. Now, aftermarket paint jobs are a different story. The paint is not dried in an oven. For this paint job you should wait 3 months b4 waxing.

this is hilarious. from the car covers article:

"Another trick to protect any winter-stored car is to place mothballs around the exterior to discourage the rodents from moving in for the winter and dining on your insulation and wiring. Their gourmet appetites make for some interesting problems. One person had mice stuff the exhaust pipe with acorns. When he started the car in the spring, the resulting acorn shotgun blast dented his metal garage door. If you wish to rid yourself of the rodents, lay dishes of Instant Potato Buds and dishes of water around the outside of your car. They eat the Buds and drink the water and go KA-BOOM."

i have to try that! :)

I was told by my dealer to wait for 60 days from day of production to start waxing the car but before then you must wash the car at least once a week using a proper shampoo like P21S shampoo.This insures that while your paint is curing it is not picking up contaminents.Now I have tried every type of wax you can think off and found that for my car an E46 M3 IMOLA RED looks its best using P21S cleaner then wax. I use the same on the Silver 740Il and the Dark blue ML. I watched A and M Motor Sport do a comparisson of waxes on their cars at a car show and was sold on the P21S system. It took scratches and swirls out and gave a very long lasting shine. Try www.aandmmotorsport.com They have a number of products and you can call them or e-mail them for advise.

Washing it once a week sounds neat and all, but illegal nowadays if you live in NJ and parts of PA due to the drought... :(

Well, I went shopping at about half a dozen different stores trying to find the stuff I needed. Pep Boys no longer carries decent stuff. The best I was able to do there was a small bottle of Imperial Hand Glaze. Everything else they carry was liquid polymer "Cleans and Polishes and Waxes in one easy Step!" crap. There wasn't ANY straight carnuba wax to be found, everything had cleaners in it. I guess the general public has turned into a bunch of lazy bastards since I last bought stuff.

Target and KMart are just as bad now. I remember a couple years ago, I could find dozens of different brands of stuff at Target, now all they have is Turtle and Kit , just like every other store.

I had better luck at AutoZone, where I found a bottle of genuine Zymol Pina Colada car wash. That stuff rules! I washed my E36M with it, and it looked like brand new paint. Great beading, even though I didn't wax. It really took the scum off the car.

None of the big retailers carry the body shop sized bottles of 3M products like they used to. Fortunately one of my new customers just happens to be a body shop supplier of auto paints, and they can get any 3M I request in a matter of a couple of days. :buttrock

One of the things I've been looking for but had no luck finding is some of those white scotchbrite type window cleaning pads from NicSond. Did they stop production?

Also, did RainX quit making their product in an aerosol can?

My new M came in today. I'm going to pick it up Saturday, and then spend that whole night throwing some carnuba on it. I found an ancient tin of Eagle One that I had left from way back in 1994 or so, and its still good. Should do until I find some Zaino, eh?

Do not use the old wax Step away from the can and toss it in the trash. Wax is temp sensetive and degrades over time and temp variations. so do not use it .You just spent a lot of money on a new car just go buy some good wax. I strongly suggest P21S. I like it much better than Ziano, Zymol, 3M and all the others. . It is made for your car by a German company that works directly with BMW to provide paint care products. They are recommended and used by BMW, MERCEDES BENZ, McLaren, and Aston Martin. The key is that they know the paint and process and they have been around and working with BMW for the past 19 years.I was in Germany and saw their R and D department it was filled with a Z8, M5 and an M3 and then there was an AMG SL 55 and the new VANTAGE these guys know the paint and actually work with the paint suppliers to BMW and the others to come up with the best protection.I was staitioned in Kuwait and used it on my car there. Very few waxes can withstand temps in the 140 and sun all day plus the occassional sand storm. The stuff worked great there and now that I am home and have a new IMOLA RED M3 that is what I use. Plus going back to when I was in Germany I went to first visit BMW M division and visit the factory. It was there that one the Engineers suggested I visit the P21S facilities. I did and I was surprised at how first quality these guys are. Their Manufacturing facility is like an operating room.I tend to go with the guys that have been around , know their product, recommended by BMW , have their own manufacturing and R and D facilities and will back up their products world wide.

Well then, where can I buy P21S locally? I've never seen it in stores, never heard of it until I stopped by that CarCareOnline site.

I don't think there is anything wrong with my old can of Eagle One. Its pure wax, not the combination stuff thats out now. It hasn't hardened one bit, which is all that old wax does as the solvents evaporate. I don't think the lid has been off it since the first time I used it. It can't hurt to try it on one lower panel and see if there's a problem. Certainly can't be any worse than the junk the dealer uses.

There are a number of places you can get P21S

Car care specialities is one place ,and A and M Motor Sport is another . I like dealing with A and M Motor Sport because they have good prices and excellent customer care.Both are on line
www.aandmmotorsport.com carries a number of different car care products as well as a number of BMW products.The owners are BMW enthusiests and own BMWs. Car care specialities are also on line and they are at www.carcarespecialities.com They are not BMW specialiests but do carry only car care items. Prices are a little lower at A and M. look them both up and see.

Originally posted by Madman
There are a number of places you can get P21S

Car care specialities is one place ,and A and M Motor Sport is another . I like dealing with A and M Motor Sport because they have good prices and excellent customer care.Both are on line

Thanks for the tips. P21S is only available by mail order then?

I have not been able to find it on the shelf , but when I order it , I get it in 1 to 3 days max from A and M, and sometimes they send you a free gift. I got a nice BMW hat from them , and last order I got a BMW / A and M Motor Sport T-shirt.

Hey guys, I am going to fix my hood in the coming week and the guys at the autoshop is going to respray the entire hood. So if the paint is not cured by the "oven" process, I should wait for 3 months before I wax it? But then if I wax it before the paint cures, what will happend? Just curious. :awink:

Originally posted by nebular18
Hey guys, I am going to fix my hood in the coming week and the guys at the autoshop is going to respray the entire hood. So if the paint is not cured by the "oven" process, I should wait for 3 months before I wax it? But then if I wax it before the paint cures, what will happend? Just curious. :awink:

Tough to say. Do you know what kind of paint they are using?

If it was being painted with any kind of solvent based paint, like lacquer, the wax would probably prevent the solvent from evaporating properly, so the paint would not harden totally. Of course, since solvents are used to keep wax soft until use, the wax might soften and bleed, causing all sorts of neat patterns in the paint as it unevenly hardens.

Enamel based paints are another story. Enamels don't use solvents, they use reducers, which are what requires the baking. I think that automotive refinshers use catalyzed enamels, which have certain volatile components that speed and aid hardening, which can be affected by wax just like a solvent based paint.

Urethanes and polyurethanes (Amerflint, Imron) are off my map. I've never worked with them, and I have no idea how they would be affected. They're not used for automotive finishes as much as they were 10 or 15 years ago.

Aftermarket paint of any kind, I'd say wait at least 30 day, if not 60-90, and when you do wax it use a gentle pure wax (no cleaners)...

guess i will have to ask what kinda paint they used for the hood. Thanks guys for the help!
;)

One of my new customers happens to be a 3M distributor. I stopped in yesterday and ordered 3M Perfect-It paste wax and some microfiber cloths. Both products were highly recommended on carcareonline.com. I'll be happy with that until I can make a decision on more dedicated products, like Zaino vs. Griot's.
I dug out my last Griot's catalog and studied the detailing products. I wanted to order the "Master detailer" kit, but I noticed that it didn't have the leather treatment, so that's extra. When I have some time later I'm going to try and build a kit that has what I want, and see if the price isn't too shocking.

Originally posted by Chuck
Well then, where can I buy P21S locally? I've never seen it in stores, never heard of it until I stopped by that CarCareOnline site.



Chuck:

I was researching waxes just the other week. Carcareonline is a great source of info. However, the prices are a bit on the high side. Do a search on Google.com using p21s and you'll come up with a large number of mail order places selling their products. There were several places which i found carrying p21s products with lower prices.

Regards & hello to all,
Drew <----- New to forums & first post:redspot